North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says you 'never look a gift horse in the mouth'

NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott says he won't look a gift horse in the mouth if the AFL's investigation into Essendon's supplements scandal results in the Bombers being stripped of premiership points and dropping out of the finals.

Scott's side have lost five matches by less than a goal in 2013 and sit in 13th spot with a 6-10 win-loss record with six rounds remaining.

However, despite a tough run home, the Kangaroos are capable of lifting themselves higher up the table to ninth spot, starting with Saturday's clash with the 17th-placed Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.

Scott says he's not wasting time thinking about what might happen to the second-placed Bombers, whose fate is expected to be known in August following the completion of the joint investigation by the AFL and ASADA.

"It is a strange situation," Scott told reporters on Wednesday.

"It's a bit like when you're on the cusp of playing finals and you start hoping other sides will lose. You take your eye off what's important."

But Scott added he would gladly accept a finals berth if Essendon were penalised.

"Absolutely - you never look a gift horse in the mouth," he said.

"Our situation is we've got some pretty tough games on the way home (including facing top-eight sides Geelong, Essendon, Hawthorn and Collingwood).

"We've got our eye on our ultimate aim and nothing will derail us from that.

"This is a great opportunity for us to continue to develop our game.

"We rank 15th in competition for age and experience."

Scott defended the heavy workload of ruckman Todd Goldstein.

"It's short-sighted to say that 'Goldy' was beaten once (by Carlton's Matthew Kreuzer last week) or some people looked at some stats and finally realised in round 17 that Goldy doesn't get interchanged much and realised it's an issue," Scott said.